The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inspecting particles or defects, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for inspecting particles or defects for use in inspecting particles existing on thin film substrates, semiconductor substrates, photomasks and so on, and pattern defects encountered on patterns on such materials, and analyzing the cause of the defects in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips and liquid crystal products, wherein the method and apparatus of the invention display an inspection result in such a form that enables the user to readily analyze the result and rapidly identify the cause of failure.
Conventionally, the technology for detecting defects on semiconductor devices and so on using an optical measuring means has been widely known. For example, “Semiconductor Wafer Inspection Apparatus” described in JP-A-62-89336 discloses a technique for irradiating a semiconductor substrate with a laser to detect scattered light from particles, if attached on the semiconductor substrate, and comparing the detected scattered light with the result of an inspection, which has been made immediately before on the same type of semiconductor substrate, to inspect the particles or defects.
Also, “Method and Apparatus for Measuring Information on Particle or Defect Size” described in JP-A-5-273110 discloses a method of measuring sizes of particles or crystal defects, which involves irradiating an object under inspection with a laser beam, receiving scattered light from possible particles or crystal defects on the object under inspection, and processing the scattered light to generate an image of the object under inspection on which the sizes of particles and crystal defects are measured.
Also, “Yield Monitoring and Analysis in Semiconductor Manufacturing” in prescripts of VLSI technology Seminar, pp. 4-42–4-47, in SEMICON Kansai, 1997, discloses an approach for analyzing the yield from particles detected on a semiconductor wafer.
Conventionally, as an approach for managing product manufacturing processes in manufacturing lines for semiconductor substrates, thin film substrates and so on, a management approach is employed for monitoring particles and defects on substrates. Such a monitoring method involves inspecting particles or pattern defects on substrates by use of an apparatus for inspecting particles or defects, monitoring a transition of the number of particles or defects detected by the inspection apparatus, and conducting a failure analysis on the particles or defects on substrates, from which a large number of particles or defects have been detected.
However, this prior art approach requires a total time for the failure analysis equal to the product of the number of detected particles/defects and a time required for the failure analysis on one particle/defect. Particularly, the failure analysis requires a prohibitively long time when the particle/defect inspection apparatus detects a large number of particles or defects, thereby giving rise to a problem that the manufacturing of substrates is delayed.